ready, get set, the worst is yet to come. also, the best chance to see what barack obama's made of. i don't think it's sugar candy. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "the ed show" with ed schultz starts right now. good evening, americans. welcome to "the ed show" tonight from new york. newt gingrich leads in just about every poll across the country, and mitt romney and his goon squad are stepping up the attacks. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> foot has a ton of baggage, like the fact that gingrich was fined $300,000 for ethics violations. >> the republican assault on newt gingrich has reached a fever pitch. >> seriously, i can't stand barack obama, but at least he doesn't trade in his wives like used cars. >> the iowa caucus is wide open and we're talking about it with former governor howard dean. former senator byron dorgan. and "salon's" joan walsh. rick perry's shockingly

offensive ad is getting the parody it deserves. could it get him a win in iowa? >> you don't need to be in the pew every sunday to know that there's something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military. >> "ring of fire" radio host mike papantonio and "daily show" co-creator lizz winstead are here. donald trump continues to embarrass himself and republicans. >> he didn't kill bin laden. he gets so much credit for that. >> colonel jack jacobs will set the record straight. it's one of the biggest republican lies of all-time. >> new tax increases on america's biggest job creators are the last thing the economy needs. >> tax increases destroy jobs. >> tonight, that myth is thoroughly debunct. thanks for watching. republicans are wondering how in the world did this election get out of control so quickly? the matter spent the last week trying to stop the donald trump debate. newsmax says the debate is still happening december 27th.

today gop shield sean hannity tweeted "trump's debate for the candidates is a go." okay, sean. donald doesn't sound optimistic. he ran to don imus to save face. >> are you going to do a debate with gingrich and rick santorum? >> i have to look into it. they want me to drop my status as a potential person to run as an independent. >> of course, it wouldn't be a donald trump interview without taking shots at the candidates who rejected him. it's your turn, michele bachmann. >> you know who i'm very disappointed, michele bachmann. she'd come up to see me four times. four times. she'd call me, ask me for advice. she said i should be her vice presidential -- you know, if she wins, she'd like to think about me for the vice presidency. >> that would work. >> all of these things -- and most importantly, i did like a two-hour phone call for her with her people. >> wow. >> and it caused me certain --

people said, you endorsing her? the answer was no. after all of that, she just announced she's not going to do the debate. it's actually called loyalty. >> loyalty. they can't get along. trump did enough damage to the republican kbts this week. the candidates are taking serious aim at each other. an attack ad by mitt romney's political action committee was le leaked to the internet. it does not go easy on newt gingrich. >> newt has a ton of baggage, like the fact gingrich was fined $300,000 for ethics violations or he took at least $1.6 million from freddie mac, just before it helped cause the economic meltdown. then there's the $37 million gingrich took from health care and industry groups. and on the issues, newt's been on all sides. he supports amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants. gingrich even teamed up with nancy pelosi and al gore on global warming. and newt was a longtime supporter of a national health

insurance mandate, the centerpiece of obama-care. >> the gingrich camp isn't hitting back at romney by name. gingrich surrogates were quickly to defend their boss. his press secretary dismissed the attack ad. "this won't be the first, this won't be the last. there's going to be an awful lot of them and none of them are going to work." a gingrich supporter from iowa says "it looks like a panic attack. we understand a load of crap when we see it. that doesn't win caucuses or elections in iowa." mitt romney is pretending to be above the fray. he told reporters he has no control over ads made by political action committees. >> as to comments of other folks that are supporting me, i don't write their script for them. i don't have any comment. anything pacs are going to do or say. >> instead, romney chose to take shots at gingrich by embracing congressman paul ryan's plan for medicare and social security. and by pointing out how gingrich opposed the plan. >> this is a place where speaker

gingrich and i disagree. he called this right wing social engineering. i believe it's a very important step to protect medicare and to protect social security. we're going to have to make changes like the ones paul ryan proposed. >> romney's camp is even running a web ad trashing gingrich for not being onboard with ryan's plan. the ad is direct from romney, not a political action committee. other candidates in conservative groups are starting to smell blood in the water. ron paul, he thinks he has a shot at the whole ball of wax including iowa. his campaign manager told politico, "our campaign has a comprehensive plan to win the delegates needed to either secure the nomination or enter into a brokered convention in tampa." we can only hope for that. part of his strategy is to draw a big bull's-eye on newt gingrich with ads like this. >> everything that gingrich railed against when he was in

the house, he went the other way when he the got paid to two the other way. >> he's demonstrating himself to be the very essence of the washington insiders. >> it's about serial hypocrisy. >> outside groups are starting to worry about gingrich as well. the ultraconservative website, worldnetdaily, created a video attacking newt gingrich for infidelity. >> mothers and fathers of america, newt and calista are the last role models we want our sons and daughters looking up to. seriously. i can't stand barack obama, but at least he doesn't trade in his wives like used cars. newt respects marriage about as much as kim kardashian. that's right. newt gingrich is a kim kardashian of the gop. >> wow. that will follow the attacks on newt gingrich, calling his morals into question might concern him the most. here's why. right now, gingrich is the choice of white evangelicals in iowa by a large margin. that's a poll. what will happen to that support if opponents keep attacking his moral failings?

the evangelical vote is very strong in numbers in iowa. newt gingrich doesn't want to be left at the altar by conservatives come election day. there's one other thing. how they poll and speak and decide face to face is a totally different thing. they're going to get together as evangelicals and look at one another and be in the same room and find strength then they're going to ask themselves some very basic questions. who are we? and what do we stand for? and then they're going to think about newt's past, his ethic violations, his being censored. all of that stuff and his marriages. then it's going to be a real tough call i think for evangelical christians in iowa to stand in front of their peers and say we think this guy should be our candidate. it's going to be interesting. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question, will the republican establishment take newt gingrich down? text "a" for yes "b" for no to

622639. go to ed.msnbc.com. we'll bring you the results later in the show. let's bring there byron dorgan, also with us, former vermont governor and dnc chairman howard dean. joan walsh, editor at large, salon.com. good to have you with us. senator dorgan, romney camp is depicting newt gingrich as untrustworthy and self-serving. is that a stretch, or is that the guy you know? >> you know, i served with him when i was in u.s. house for a number of years, en aen and i ka lot about newt gingrich. these are tough times for the country. we need someone running for president who is serious about the country. to me, at least, would have disqualified someone running for president. i'm talking about after i left the house, went to the senate, he became speaker, he was fined $300,000 by the ethics committee of the house for ethical sanctions. he was sanctioned by the

committee. and the other thing about speaker gingrich is, and i've kept this on my desk, ed, if we have a minute. this is from the early 1990s and it always disqualified newt in my mind. he wrote a letter to republicans across the country and said he was the president of gopac. he said, we poll tested focus groups and tested language. he said, people say i wish i could speak like newt so here's your chance. here's a way to describe opponents and their records and the other political party. newt says, when you're describing your opponent, use words like sick, pathetic, lie, betray, traitors, corrupt, shame, disgrace, anti-flag, anti-family, anti-jobs. that is unbelievable. i would disown a democrat if they ever suggested that. it is the bottom feeding of american politics. and people say, where did all this rancid unbelievable anger in politics come from where you disrespect everybody? here's where it started. and in my judgment, it's just disqualifying. it comes from the pen and signature of newt gingrich.

>> governor dean, you've been down this road before with newt gingrich. what's the last month going to be like in iowa for this crowd ? >> it's going to be tough for everybody. the fundamental problem is newt is the flavor of the month because nobody wants to nominate mitt romney. that's going to be a cross he has to bear. i think he's doing himself some damage. i still think he's most likely to end up being the nominee. for him to embrace paul ryan's plan which essentially gets rid of medicare is going to -- that's going to be a disastrous attack ad against him in the general election. i have never seen a republican primary like this. usually they're much more disciplined than we are. i was the butt of where newt gingrich is right now eight years ago when the guys were jumping on me because i was the leader at that time. it doesn't do the party good to have a knockdown, drag-out brawl and talk about ethics violation and serial wives. i'm shocked by the stuff.

i thought it was bad i was put in an ad with osama bin laden. it looks mild compared to this republican primary. >> there's a debate tomorrow night. will mitt romney deliver the attacks to newt gingrich's face. >> i think he will. i think he has to. i don't know, ed. you and i have talked about hout he needed to go on the offensi e offensive. i guess we should have said if he could do it effectively. i can't believe how ineffectively he's done it in the last couple days. governor dean is right. this medicare stand is a gift to barack obama. it's a gift to the democrats. and also, hitting him on his marriages and his conversion to catholicism, i have no sympathy for newt gingrich, but that's pretty low, too. and it's also from a guy mitt romney, who should really want to stay away from the issue of religion. he faces, let's admit it, certain kind of prejudice there, too. so to play the religion card when he's having it played against him, it just looks like he'll do anything to get elect the and it really hurts him, if he does emerge, as the

republican nominee. >> well, governor dean, let me ask you about iowa, what you know from the state from the campaigning you did years ago. these evangelical christians, when they get in a room, are they going to go as they're polled or stand face to face and ask the questions, who are we, what do we stand for? and not be embarrassed by their peers and pick the moral candidate? what about that? >> well, one of the things i've learned over the last few months is the rules in the republican caucus are different than in the democratic caucus. you're using to covering the democratic caucus. that was the high profile race in the last two cycles. they get a secret ballot. they don't. they don't have to face their peers and say thwhat they're doing. it's a secret ballot. anything can happen. i have no idea how the race is going to turn out. it's gotten very bloody very quickly. i don't think anybody is going to be spared. when you run flame thrower ads, you knock yourself down as much as you knock the other guy down.

>> what about -- >> even though mitt says this is not pac, i don't have anything to do with this, people don't believe that. people are going to believe those ads were put together by mitt romney and he's going to get the blame for them. >> can romney recover, senator dorgan? >> i don't know. this is unbelievably difficult. a lot of negative ads -- negatives sell. people use them because they work. this would probably be entertaining were it not we're talking about who's going to lead the most important country in the world. and i think governor dean is right. i don't think any of us have any understanding of what might happen. there's been a flavor of the month club. newt gingrich is in the lead in the polls. somebody once said his baggage has baggage. there's certainly plenty of hooks here for people to attack p him. i don't think any of us know what's going to happen. >> he has the political savvy and moxy to keep this lead. he does have that. do you agree with that, senator? >> he's very smart. the fact is i don't think he has good judgment. he's smart. he also has a habit and history

of, you know, of exploding, you know, imploding himself. he causes his own problems. i think everyone thinks at some point he's going to be newt and say what he thinks about something that's way off the surface of the planet and that will be the end of it. >> joan walsh, it comes down to discipline for newt gingrich at this point. he's impulsive, he shoots from the hip. i described him last night as a guy who basically like a blender with the top off going full speed. you really never know what this guy is going to do. can he hold it together? what do you think? >> you know, his staff and calista have to keep him on a short leash. newt is such an egomaniac, newt thinks being newt ultimately is going to lead to love. it never does. to know him is not to love him, as senator dorgan knows so well. so it's going to be an interesting few weeks. people in iowa are going to get to know him more, whether he goes off, we don't know. i don't know. i still don't think he's going to wear that well. i've been saying that a couple

weeks, ed. i could be wrong. there's something really off about this picture. >> governor dean, a brokered convention. put a percentage on it. what do you think? >> i think it's pretty close to zero. i was nervous about that in '08, and i was planning on it in '04 just because you have to plan for the worst and hope for the best. we haven't had a brokered convention i think for, gosh, 60 or 70 years in this country. i doubt it very much. they have changed the republican rules. we're not going to decide -- they're not going to decide who their nominee is until much, much later than usual. i'd be shocked if it went all the way to the convention. it could. you have six or seven people in the thing in double digits. it could. >> for the first time in a long time, it could. we've not seen this possibility for so many years. the one thing that's certain, ed, is the republicans aren't going to consult any of the three of us or you about what they ought to be doing. >> that's true. >> they should. because we'd be running a heck of a lot different campaign from

what they're doing. that's for sure. byron dorgan, howard dean, joan walsh. always a pleasure. great to have you with us. remember to answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen. share your thoughts on twitter @edshow. donald trump says president obama has gotten too much credit for killing osama bin laden, but trump doesn't know what he's talking about. it's an allout assault on democracy in the state of michigan. ben jealous of naacp and congresswoman sheila jackson lee will weigh in on what is a very tough fight for the state of michigan. ♪ you, you ain't alone ♪ and just let me be [ male announcer ] this is your moment. ♪ your ticket home [ male announcer ] this is zales, the diamond store. take an extra 10 percent off storewide now through sunday.

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coming up, donald trump thinks he knows military strategy. i'll talk to someone who actually does. colonel jack jacobs is next. and trump's not the only one refusing to give president obama credit for taking out osama bin laden. wait until you hear what sean hannity has to say. and, of course, it's one of the gop's go-to talking points. you can't raise taxes on the job creators. but those job creators don't

think it's such a big deal. share wyour thoughts on twitter using #edshow. we're featuring your tweets throughout the show. it's like having portable navigation. a bluetooth connection. a stolen vehicle locator. roadside assistance. and something that could help save your life - automatic help in a crash. it's the technology of five devices in one hard-working mirror. because life happens while you drive. this holiday, give someone you love an onstar fmv mirror for only 199. visit onstar.com for retailers. so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪

[ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates. welcome back to "the ed show." the great donald trump has declared president obama is getting too much credit for killing osama bin laden. >> but i don't know why obama gets credit for the whole bin laden thing. he's sitting there. he's got three choices. leave hem alone, which nobody would do, take him oust wit wit missile or take him out with the military. he said, take him out with the

military. okay. congratulations. the military did an incredible job. and they called him and they said, we have him. he said, go get him. what's he going to say? don't get him? he gets all this credit. it's a lot of crap. look, he happened to be sitting in the oval office and the generals called up and said, we have him. why does obama get credit when he had to make a decision? okay, go get him. now, who's not going to make that decision? >> donald trump doesn't know what he's talking about, again. the decision to go in and get bin laden with navy s.e.a.l.s instead of bombing the compound was one of the gutsier presidential decisions in modern history. by way, when another bad guy, libyan president moammar gadhafi was having a problem finding a place to stay during his u.n. visit in 2009, it was trump who rented him property so he could pitch his tent. it was only stopped when outrage mounted. of course, president obama played a big role in ultimately getting rid of gadhafi as well. the president doesn't go around

taking credit he deserves for bin laden unless he is pushed. >> ask osama bin laden and the 22 out of 30 top al qaeda leaders who have been taken off the field whether i engage in appeasement. or whoever's left out there. ask them about that. >> you know what president obama was doing right there? he was respecting the troops. for putting their lives on the line after taking an order. that's respecting the troops. that answer. today, white house press secretary jay carney defended the president's comments. >> he was answering a question about a charge that he had somehow acted as an appeaser in the conduct of his foreign policy. and i think it was an appropriate response. let us know if you get an answer from those gentlemen. >> joining me now, retired united states army colonel jack jacobs and msnbc military analyst. great to have you with us,

colonel. >> thanks, ed. >> appeasement, that the right word here? >> probably not. you can make arguments about whether or not we should pull troops out, leave them there, so on. the decision had already been made. the thing about obama is really -- it's, i'm an equal opportunity castigator. i think sometimes i can heap invective on just about anybody. but the decision to go after bin laden inside pakistan, as you suggested, was an extremely tough one. and i'm not convinced everybody, no matter how tough they are, would have made the same decision. could have done nothing. of course, we've done plenty of nothing for a long period of time. had plenty of opportunity to get him, a couple at least i could think of and decided we wouldn't go after him. yes, you could put a large yield, a number of large yield precision guided munitions on top of the compounds. as a matter of fact, the secretary of defense argued

that's what should have been done. we wouldn't have received, got, collected any of the intelligence we subsequently have used and we continue to use in order to get the remainder of al qaeda in the taliban. we would not have had that. >> i just can't allow the narrative to go unchallenged that president obama doesn't -- or he's getting too much credit for this. i want your professional take. where's the credit? >> no, no, of course, it goes to the troops, the brave troops who went in and supported it. but the decision to choose between dropping a bomb, which would have yielded no intelligence, and risking failure, tremendous possibility of failure by getting brave troops to go in there and knock off osama bin laden then collect up 100 thumb drives and all the other -- that's a very, very tough decision. >> what would you care this decision to? >> there are lots of opportunities to compare this. the second world war was loaded with them. the rangers at ponto vach.

the rangers, again, in the philippines. at the p.o.w. camp. the 11th airborne division jumping into los banos, again, to free american captives. there are lots of opportunities to compare it. it compares very well. listen, it's a tough decision. i think if i were in the same position and somebody said, you can risk everything by ordering the troops to go in there so we can get the intelligence, or drop a bomb, you know, i'd be hard pressed. >> does trump know what he's talking about? >> no, no, he has no idea. he spent his time marching around in the military high school and that's the extent of his military experience. he's either remembering that or he's poorly advised. he has no idea what he's talking about. >> finding bin laden in the first place, i mean, there was a time when we had backed off and disbaned the unit. had it not been for president obama refocusing, we may not have gotten him. >> it's really kind of interesting. the fact of the matter, i heap invective on just about anybody.

and finding praise is occasionally difficult for jack jacobs. i've got to say, we launched more predator strikes in obama's first month in office than george w. bush had his entire administration. and like the president was suggesting, you don't want to be number two or number three in the bad guy chain of command because we're going to drop a bomb on you. >> what did you make of the president's response when he was called an appeaser and the way he came back? >> well, i think it was very gentlemenly, especially in view of the emotion-charged campaign we're in the middle of. i thought it was very -- >> and the troops know what this means. >> no, sure. sure, they do. >> and donald trump doesn't. >> no, no, no, donald trump's never spent a minute on active duty, in uniform, doesn't know what he's talking about militarily. >> colonel jack jacobs. good to have you with us tonight. next in psycho talk, the right wing lies about killing

bin laden keep piling up. sean hannity wants to give all the credit to president bush? bush didn't care about finding bin laden. we got the tape to prove it. republicans love to say you can't raise taxes on the job creators, but when republican house and senate offices were asked to offer up some job creators that would back that statement up, they came up empty handed. stay with us. ♪ our machines help identify early stages of cancer, and it's something that we're extremely proud of. you see someone who is saved because of this technology,

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and in "psycho talk" tonight, mr. intellectual honesty. sean hannity. well, he served up another dandy. anybody who says fox news doesn't lie needs to listen up. here's what happened last night when joe trippi had the audacity to give president obama credit for killing osama bin laden. >> where is osama bin laden? barack obama getting osama bin laden -- >> thanks to george bush. >> exactly. and intelligence george bush built up, busting the porn king osama bin laden was huge. that's the story of the year. >> you give credit to bush. if obama had his way, we wouldn't have gotten bin laden. >> if obama had gotten his way, we wouldn't have gotten bin laden? did i hear that? well, in 2008, candidate obama explained his way. >> we will kill bin laden. we will crush al qaeda. that has to be our biggest national security advisory. >> in 2009 president obama ordered the cia to kill bin

laden. obama ordered the mission that killed osama bin laden. president obama got his way and got bin laden. hannity's pal, w., gave up on finding bin laden six months after 9/11. >> i don't know where he is, nor -- i just don't spend that much time on him to be honest with you. we hadn't heard much from him, and i wouldn't necessarily say he's at the center of any command structure. and, you know, again, i don't know where he is. i -- i -- i repeat what i said. i truly am not that concerned about him. >> bush wasn't concerned, but his administration was. they said letting bin laden slip through their fingers in tora bora in late 2001, was their, quote, gravest error in the war against al qaeda. by 2006, they all gave up and closed the cia unit in charge of hunting bin laden. it took president obama to refocus on the mission by doing things his way.

and how did that thing work out again? >> ask osama bin laden and the 22 out of 30 top al qaeda leaders who have been taken off the field. >> bingo. for sean hannity to say we wouldn't have gotten bin laden if obama had gotten his way, is actually intellectually dishonest "psycho talk." a government takeover in michigan is under way. will the justice department intervene? ben jealous of naacp and congresswoman sheila jackson lee will join me on this powerful story. rick perry's deep brain freeze continues. see what he can't remember this time around. mike papantonio and lizz winstead will weigh in on that and a whole lot more. where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep. and lunesta can help you get there, like it has for so many people before.

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democracy in the united states of america. and it is happening in michigan. four cash strapped cities in one school district are currently under, listen to me, state control. they call the shots. the city of detroit and their town of inkster may be next. if that happens, half of michigan's african-american population will have no democratically elected local leaders. instead, the citizens will be living under state appointed emergency managers. a person who has the authority to kill collective bargaining agreements, sell off assets, fire workers, shut down the police and fire departments, stuff like that. with no say from the citizens. detroit is currently under financial review is what they call it. mayor dave bing says he believes the city and unions can work out a deal and avoid a big government takeover. we'll see. meanwhile, state lawmakers are worried the emergency manager law could be halted by a ballot drive. organizers say they are close to

getting the necessary signatures to turn this all around. so of course, governor rick snyder and republican lawmakers are figuring out a plan "b," always a plan "b," to continue disenfranchising citizens. a citizen for the house speaker says "chaos could ensue" if emergency manager law is suspended. that's pretty dangerous, i think. that's dangerous rhetoric. i'm joined tonight by ben jealous, president and ceo of the naacp. also with us, congresswoman sheila jackson lee of texas who serves on the house judiciary committee. let's go to you first, congresswoman. what about the house judiciary committee, the justice department looking into first the constitutionality, the legality of this law that is taking place and disenfranchising so many people in michigan? where does this stand? >> well, first of all, i join my ranking member, my colleague, john conyers, representative from detroit, in asking the attorney general to question the

constitutionality of this runaway law. under article 4, section 4, we are owed an obligation to have a democracy of which we can vote on our dually chosen candidates. but this is a runaway opportunity to diminish minority voting power in particular because of the predominance of this process on predominantly african-american communities including detroit. i agree with mayor bing that he can get this done. this is union busting, but it is more than that. it is job busting. i hope many of your viewers will realize that when you go into conservatorsh conservatorship, you're still paying money, huge dollars to someone called a conservator. and, frankly, that relieves a state of texas -- excuse me, the state of michigan -- we have a situation like that in texas. the state of michigan from paying their due responsibility to detroit. let me just say this one point. the state of michigan had a deal

with the city of detroit. they indicated that they would pay them $330 million if they reduced their income tax. if they kept their promise, the state, the city of detroit would have this ongoing fund. they broke that deal and they lowered the amount of payments to detroit to $220 million. they put them in this fix among many other circumstances. so what i would say is, they're stealing the government, they're squashing democracy and they're dimini diminishing the african-american vote. we have to determine if it's constitutional. i believe it may be unconstitutional. and a violation of the voting rights act. >> the justice department is reviewing the law as we're told tonight. ben jealous, what does this mean to the vote? >> shortsided, this is disruptive. it's part of a pattern we see going on across the country with people coming after people's basic right to vote. this is a path of bullies and cowards. in this country, we believe wholeheartedly in informed

debate. i've got an idea, you've got an idea, let's hash it out, let's figure it out. let's not go after your right to vote, let's not go after your, you know, your basic power as citizens to choose who leads you. it's deeply disturbing. >> what's your response when they say republicans say that chaos could ensue? >> that's a sort of rhetoric, given our urban history, is very dangerous, very loaded rhetoric that they should stay away from. as you get back to the table, let's hash this out, let's debate the issues, let's let the people who the -- the people of detroit have chosen to lead them, lead them out of this mess. >> i have talked to faith leaders in michigan from a number of different communities. they are concerned that there are white communities in michigan that have financial problems and yet they have not had the emergency financial manager law put on them. what's going on here? >> well, you know, you saw the city of inkster come up, and, you know, inkster has a notorious history.

it's next to dearborn. the two names were chosen. inkster for the black folks, dearborn for the white folks. this is a state with troubling racial past. whether or not white communities will be treated this way so cavalierly. >> congresswoman, how fast can the justice tee apartmedepartme this and how fast can they move on this? can they do some sort of injunction? what do you think? >> actually they can move pretty fast. they can do a review but also question the state and in essence put the state on a halt if you will. they can go into court and seek an immediate injunction, but they can also say to the governor that you are looking as if you are violating the voter rights act. more importantly, this law appears to be unconstitutional. we're asking you to cease an desis. we have this under review. and ask you not to proceed. and if necessary, the justice department can immediately file a lawsuit and, again, seek an

injunction. the key here, ed, is what president jealous has indicated. the naacp has been a champion on opposing voter suppression laws. it's a pattern, ed. it's systemic. the reason why i lslipped up an used the terminology texas, we have the same problem. a school district, not only are there children, students, taxpayers, there are tulle dual elected officials. voters selected. voters can choose to unelect those persons, choose somebody else that might be better financial managers. you can't eliminate their right to choose. this is what republicans are trying to do across the nation, totally eliminate minority voters' right to choose and enter into the voting box. that has to be patently unconstitutional. >> so our audience completely understands here, when you have an emergency financial manager come in, he has all power. he has all power on how votes are counted, how the process is

done and everything else. congresswoman, thanks for joining us tonight. ben jealous, i want to ask you about tomorrow here in new york city. >> stand for freedom. this is a huge rally. it's a march from the koch brothers' headquarters at 61th and madison down to the u.n. it starts at 11:30. the rally at the u.n. starts at 1:00. it's on this issue of voter suppression. this year, we have seen the right to vote attacked more viciously state by state than we have seen for 100 years. it's time for us to stand up and demand -- >> makes you ask the question, which way are we going? ben jealous, thanks for swroining us tonight. congresswoman sheila jackson lee as well. thank you so much. republicans refuse to raise taxes on the job creators, but they say it will stunt job growth. well, npr talked to some of those job creators and they say that's not the case. stay tuned. [ male announcer ] drinking a smoothie with no vegetable nutrition? ♪

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coming up on "the ed show," busting the big republican tax myth. later, rick perry will fight against activist supreme court judges, if he can just remember who the heck they are. mike papantonio and lizz winstead will have a lot to say about that. and you can tweet us your thoughts using #edshow. stay tuned.

thanks for watching tonight. now, the republicans, they have a way with words, don't they? republicans love to say, we can't tax the job creators. >> tax hikes on families and job creators would only make things worse. tax increases destroy jobs. >> new tax increases on america's biggest job creators are the last thing the economy needs to get back on track. >> tries to build support for punitive tax hikes on job creators. when we tax our job creators more than they tax theirs, we lose, their win. >> make sure we don't overtax those job creators.

>> you raise taxes on your job creators, and you have less jobs. >> to raise taxes on the job creators in this country just hurts our jobs market and our economy even more so. >> so when you run up the taxes like that, you're taxing job creators. that's not how you keep jobs here. >> that bullet point's been around for a long time, habit it? hasn't it? it comes up because the senate rejected an extension of the payroll tax cut for a second time. republicans blocked it because it would be paid formy a surtax on millionaires. republicans say it's a tax on job creators. so npr, national public radio, went looking for these job creators. they asked republican congressional offices to direct them to some businessowners who would be effected by the millionaires' surtax. not one person was offered as an example. then npr asked for help from business groups opposing the surtax. even business groups couldn't offer any of these job creators. finally, npr went on facebook.

what they found were some businessowners who said the tax rates did not effect hiring decisions. >> it's not in the top 20 things that we think about when we're making a business hire. >> if my taxes go up, i have slightly less disposable income, yes, but that has nothing to do with what my business does. what my business does is based on the contracts that it wins and the demand for its services. >> so finally, npr went to republican south dakota senator john thune who said it was a bad idea to tax job creators. >> those i would say are exceptions to the rule. i think most small businessowners out there right now would argue that raising their taxes has the opposite effect we would want to have in a down economy. >> it is one of the great republican lies. taxing millionaires is a tax on job creators and effects their hiring decisions, simply not

true. they hire and fire people based on all kinds of considerations. not because of a millionaire surtax. another oops moment for rick perry. this time he flubs the name of the supreme court justice. we have the tape. you won't want to miss it. that's next. ♪ [ male announcer ] sometimes, a hint is all the wrapping a gift needs. is that what i think it is?

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"the ed show" survey tonight, i asked you, will the republican establishment take newt gingrich down? 73% of you said yes. 27% of you said no. up next, mike papantonio and lizz winstead on rick perry, donald trump and the rest of the gop three-ring circus. now there's no need to hold back. new revolutionary scope dualblast obliterates strong food odors leaving your breath minty fresh. hey. [ male announcer ] so there's no trace of evidence... new scope dualblast. when you pour chunky beef with country vegetables soup over it...

you can do dinner. four minutes, around four bucks. campbell's chunky. it's amazing what soup can do. the pioneers. the aviators. building superhighways in an unknown sky. their safety systems built of brain and heart, transforming strange names from tall tales into pictures on postcards home. and the ones who followed them, who skimmed the edge of space, the edge of heaven, the edge of dreams. and we follow them up there to live by an unbreakable promise, stitched into every uniform of every captain

who takes their command: to fly. to serve. and of course, rick perry rails against activist judges. too bad he can't remember their names. earlier perry sat down with the editorial board of "the des moines register" and let's just say things didn't go real well for the texas governor. particularly when perry criticized president obama's supreme court picks. but forgot the name of justice sonia sotomayor. >> when you see his appointment of two -- from my perspective, inarguably -- activist judges, whether it was -- notomayor?

>> sotomayor? >> sotomayor. and kagan, who are both activist judges. >> let's bring in mike papantonio, host of "the ring of fire" radio show and lizz winstead, co-creator of "the daily show" and author of the upcoming book "lizz free or die." lizz, i have to ask you now, scoring the tape, how does that compare to herman cain's dance in front of the editorial board in wisconsin? >> well, you know, he's just sad. herman cain at least has this weird courage of conviction with his idiocy, and rick perry just seems sad at this point. just want to say, why don't you just go home? you still have family who like you there. you know, i do want to say in his defense, he can name all of the brady bunch kids. >> yes, he can. >> so that's really good. >> here's another one for you, mike. he says that there were only eight supreme court justices. i mean -- what's with this guy? >> ed, i'm certain when you

stand too close to rick perry, you can hear the sound of the ocean coming from his head. that's the problem here. it's almost like we have too many freaks and not enough circumstan circuses in the republican thing. i imagine if we went back and looked at rick perry's scores, political science, when he was a texas agie, you'd see the names where he filled in for the supreme court, sneezy, sleepy, dopey and grumpy. this is a guy who probably sits at home, watches the "three stooges" reruns and takes notes to figure out what he's going to say tomorrow. every day is just a bigger day for rick perry. you know, the sad part about it is he is the new voice and he is the new image of the tea party gop. >> no doubt. >> and they can't get away from him. >> what's so crazy, like, who is still supporting him? i mean, it's clear i think to everyone to america besides bobby jindal and a couple of

racist ranchers in texas that this guy couldn't complete the tv guide cross word puzzle. he'd stare at it in a blank and go, blank gaga, help me. at this point i can't go home. >> a lot of folks are spoofing perry's war on religion ad attacking gays. here's one that caught our attention. here it is. >> i'm not ashamed to admit i'm ignorant, but you don't have to have my low i.q. to know something is wrong in the country when a guy can come out with a super anti-gay campaign ad only to find out on the interwebs he was wearing the jacket from "brokeback mountain." as president, i'll end obama's war on time travel, fight to stop my hilarious self-contradiction, find lady gaga and convince her to become a lawyer. i'm rick perry, i'm wearing the jacket again aren't a, dang it? >> i don't think they should be able to openly celebrate christmas, quite frankly.

that's where we need to be going with this. what are conservatives going to do when the military doesn't turn into one big cher video? what thare they going to do? >> i have no idea. >> i don't either. >> donald trump quickly. two people at the debate for newsmax. is it going to happen? >> already he's embarrassed. he's apologizing because he's embarrassed. this is guy who doesn't embarrass easily. he has a long history of embarrassing himself. maybe after three bankruptcies he should be embarrassed. maybe after the fact he learns he has an 18% approval rating with the public he should be embarrassed. maybe after 65 years of real, real bad hair days he should be embarrassed. maybe after humiliating himself in the clownish kind of presidential run, he should be embarrassed. what happens is a guy like trump build an embarrassment threshold. >>